We were proud to share the Future Calling film created by young people from Boclair Academy at a recent Glasgow-wide event hosted by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, to celebrate the climate change projects delivered during 2020 and showcase the work ahead of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Glasgow later in 2021.
Future Calling was an arts and climate change project delivered by Eco Drama during lockdown in May-June 2020, supported by the GCPH and Education Scotland’s Creative Curriculum Fund. It addressed young people’s responses to the climate emergency through online discussion, visioning exercises, games, nature activities, arts and media, to creatively reconfigure climate change as a symptom of much bigger issues around the way we relate to each other and the natural world. S1 pupils from Boclair Academy were invited to attend weekly digital sessions with the drama artist Ben, and he provided creative and outdoor tasks for the pupils to undertake before and after each session.
The original film created by Ben, acted as a provocation at the start of the project, telling the story of a future world where humans have not made the necessary changes to avert climate destruction. Although initially presenting a dystopian future, the film and creative process engaged and empowered young people to realise that they have the autonomy and power to create an alternative future, and that change can be made now.
In response, the young people recorded their own visionary future messages. Despite the strangeness of leading such a big project in isolation, they tuned in, engaged, and did amazingly. It has been a boost of hope to hear the courage, eloquence and clarity in the messages they sent.
Watch the Future Calling film:
To watch the full films created by each young person, please visit Eco Drama’s You Tube playlist channel Future Calling.
Ben’s Future Calling blog contains some reflections that emerged through the process, along with some tools for speaking to young people about the uncertain future we face.
If you would like to showcase the film on a website or at an event, particularly in the lead up to COP26, please get in touch with emily@ecodrama.co.uk